New Peretsman-Scully Hall and Neuroscience Institute

Description of the project by Princeton University

The complex, which will encompass 248,000 gross square feet, will feature state-of-the-art research facilities, meeting rooms, faculty offices and instructional space, according to project managers Ahmed Sultan, project manager, and Mark Wilson, program manager, in Princeton's Office of Design and Construction.

The contemporary structures have been sited to take advantage of the landscape. The neuroscience portion of the complex, which is on the west portion of the site, will have two above-grade stories. There will be many areas of shared space between the two, especially on the A and B/C levels below grade throughout both buildings. The main entrance to the complex will be on its north side off a path leading from the Icahn Laboratory and from the Streicker Bridge. The complex will be the southwest cornerstone of the University's "natural sciences neighborhood."

The first-floor entrance will open to a glass-walled lobby and a central stairway leading to the common areas below. On the south end, doors will open to a terrace with a plaza below on the A level. On level two, a bridge-like corridor will connect the two sides of the complex. On the first and second floors of the neuroscience side of the complex, faculty offices and study spaces will line the windowed perimeter, and laboratories will form the central core.

This design maximizes natural light, with interior skylight shafts that penetrate almost to the basement and external walls of opaque glass bisected by clear ribbons of "vision glass." The nonconnecting walls of the two structures will have a luminous quality. They will be composed of two "skins" of glass with a three-foot-wide airspace sandwiched between them. The outer skin is a ribbed "glass curtain" that serves as a sunscreen, and the inner skin is a smooth weather barrier of high-performance glass. The insulating space between them is open at each end to allow air to circulate.

Sustainability elements are a major focus of the architectural design, which is intended to meet the equivalent of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards. Features will include the use of low volatile organic compound (VOC) materials and natural lighting wherever possible. Stormwater will be collected in a 12,000-gallon cistern for nonpotable use; the high-performance exterior and enhanced heat recovery for mechanical systems will reduce energy needs; and low-flow plumbing fixtures will help to conserve water.

One flight down from the main entrance, the A level will contain a common space with an outside plaza, teaching spaces that include a 140-seat lecture hall and several classrooms and seminar rooms, and a central core of faculty labs. The common area and teaching spaces will be shared with the psychology building. Because imaging and microscopy areas must be in contact with the ground (due to vibrations and electromagnetic field restrictions), the lowest level (B/C) is reserved for the building's unique joint-use facilities.

The new lot will be constructed of a porous paving material, decreasing the amount of impervious surface in the area to meet campus goals for stormwater reduction. Plants that are drought resistant and will provide biofiltration for stormwater also will be established around the new building.